Wednesday, August 9, 2017

The Second
Brighter Star is the 11th studio album of the English Prog Rock band
Big Big Train, that followed the release of their previous album Grimspound, with only two
months difference. Grimspound was released at the end April, and “Brighter Star”
at the end of June.

That was a little unexpected, and caught many
people (including me), by surprise.

As far as I understood (and read), in “Brighter
Star” the band decided to include songs that were not included in their
two previous albums, together with a few older songs that have been rearranged.
The original versions of those songs can be found in Folklore and Grimspound.

In
the review I wrote about Folklore, I mentioned that after the release of the two
excellent albums English Electric Pt.1 & 2, the band went a step back with
Folklore. Grimspound that followed, was a good album, better than Folklore in
my opinion, but I’m afraid I can’t say the same for this last one.

The
Second Brighter Star is not a bad album, but nothing special either. Yes, the
usual melodic and melancholic style of Big Big Train is present once more, but
the compositions as less inspired and less interesting. (Always in my opinion).
The sound is rich, including many instruments and the production is very good,
but that’s not enough I’m afraid.

The
best moments here are: The Second Bright Star (the album’s opening track),
followed by the very interesting rearranged versions of London Plane and
Brooklands.

This
is an album that I could recommend to the fans of Big Big Train, who I can
guess that bought it alredy. As for those who are not fans of BBT, you can try
it of course, but I do not recommend it. Better try English Electric Pt.1 &
2, and Grimspound.

Friday, August 4, 2017

On Friday the 22nd of September, a
special event will take place at the wonderful Herodion ancient theatre in
Athens, Greece. The Philarmonic orchestra
of Prague and the Symphonic orchestra of Athens, will present a Rock concert
played in a "symphonic" way. The setlist will be including songs from
very famous bands, like Queen, Led Zeppelin, Scorpions, Deep Purple and others.
With them, many musicians will appear on the stage as guests, including the drummer
of Frank Zappa (F. Honig), and Steve Harley, the leader of Cockney Rebel, among
others. The ticket prices begin
from 28€, which in my opinion is a very good price for this event.So, if you are living or
visiting Athens, this is something that you shouldn't miss!

Monday, July 31, 2017

Last night the last Prog & Roll radio show of this season (2016-2017) was on air, at 20.00 UK time as usual.
Because it was the last show before the summer break, we presented the Top-10 song list, as it was created by our listeners during the last 10 months that our show was on air. (If you scroll the page down, you can read the previous post, where I am explaining how this Top-10 list was made).
So, after the first part, where we played mostly new stuff, we begun playing the songs that won the 'Song of the Month' contests, from October 2016, until July 2017. And at the end of the show, we played a funny and pleasant song as a surprise to our listeners. (As it seemed it was highly appreciated!).So, here you can take a look at last night's special playlist:

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Hello all! :-)
I am writing this piece in order to inform you about the following subject:On this Sunday the 30th of July, Prog & Roll will be on air with the last show of this season, which is going to be a special one. The reason is that, we are going to present Prog & Roll's Top-10 song list, as it was created by our listeners throughout the last 10 months that our show was active. So, we got 10 songs for 10 months, one song for each month.
As some of you know already, during our shows, we are playing with our listeners the "grade the song" game, and at the end of each month, we have the 'Song of the Month' contest, where they are grading the most famous songs of the whole month once more. And the one that will gather the highest average score, is announced as the 'Song of the Month'. So, this season's Top-10 song list is including all the songs that won in that contest.
And since the season is reached at its end, it is the time to present the Top -10 in this final show.As you can understand, the playlist will be including really great songs, so try not to miss this show! I would like to remind you that, Prog & Roll is a live bilingual broadcast, which you can listen to online, on Sunday evening at 20.00 UK time.Here's the link, if you are interested: www.justincaseradio.com
I hope to "see" you there! :-)Thank you!

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Hello all!
As you probably realised, I am not writing new things on my blog lately, and the reason is that I am on holidays. But I couldn't skip my usual Saturday's Juke Box post, which is - as most of you know - my weekly Top-5 song list.
I listened to lots of music during this week, and these are the songs I picked as my best ones:BAROCK PROJECT: Alone (Detachment - 2017)DAVID COVERDALE: Only My Soul (Northwinds - 1978)MOSTLY AUTUMN: Sight of Day (Sight of Day - 2017)IRON MAIDEN: Wasted Years (Somewhere in Time - 1986)NIGHTWISH: Elan (Endless Forms Most Beautiful - 2015)
I will concude this post by adding the YT links of the songs in my list.
Well, the ones I could find at least.
Just click on the links and enjoy the music! :-)DAVID COVERDALE: Only My SoulMOSTLY AUTUMN: Sight of DayIRON MAIDEN: Wasted YearsNIGHTWISH: Elan

Monday, July 10, 2017

Hello all!
As I announced a few days ago, last night on Prog & Roll's chatbox, we had the memebrs of the very talented Italian band Cellar Noise as guests. I had no idea how many were going to participate, but finally all five of them showed up.
From our behalf, we prepared a special playlist, including 4 songs from their debut album (Alight), mixed with new and older songs from other famous - or not - bands.
I believe that last night's show was a very interesting one, and I am sure that everybody enjoyed the two hours that we spent together.Here you can take a look at the playlist:

Saturday, July 8, 2017

Hello all!
After a week's break, here I am once more, with my usual weekly Top-5 song list for you.
I listened to lots of music during this week, from many different styles and genres, as you will realize by looking at my list.
So, for this last week, here are the songs I chose as the best ones:CELLAR NOISE: Temple (Alight - 2017)IRON MAIDEN: The Mercenary (Brave New World - 2000)THE FLOWER KINGS: Train to Nowhere (Back in the World of Adventures - 1995)VAN MORRISON: Village Idiot (Hymns to the Silence - 1991)MAGO DE OZ: La Costa del Silencio (Gaia - 2003)
I will conclude this post by adding the YouTube links for the songs included in my list. So, in case you are interested, just click on the links and listen to them.
Enjoy!CELLAR NOISE: TempleIRON MAIDEN: The MercenaryTHE FLOWER KINGS: Train to NowhereVAN MORRISON: Village IdiotMAGO DE OZ: La Costa del Silencio

Friday, July 7, 2017

Hello all!
I am writting this piece in order to inform you that, on Sunday the 9th of July, we are going to have the members of the very talented Italian band Cellar Noise as "guests" on Prog & Roll's chatbox.
As it seems, this is going to be the last time that we will have guests in our show before our Summer break, because there are very few shows left.Cellar Noise released their debut album in 2017, and so far, is one of the best releases of the

year.
The album's name is Alight, and in case you are interested, take a look at small piece I wrote about it a few weeks ago: http://gfreedomathina.blogspot.gr/2017/06/cellar-noise-alight-2017.html We prepared a playlist especially for the ocassion, that is including 4 songs from Alight, mixed with many other beautiful songs.
So, if you are free and in the mood on Sunday the 9th of July, tune in to Prog & Roll, for some good music and a very friendly atmosphere on the chatbox. You will also have the opportunity to "meet" the members of this very good Italian band.
I would like to remind you that, Prog & Roll is a live broadcast, and it comes on air at 20.00 UK time. Here's the link of the radio station: www.justincaseradio.com
I hope to "see" some of you there!
Thank you!

Monday, July 3, 2017

Last evening on more Prog & Roll radio show was on air as usual.This time the playlist was including many bands/artists that are not so famous, mixed with some well-known names. I think it was a rather interesting and informative show, and our listeners seemed pleased with it.Here you can take a look at the playlist:

4rth Part: EDEN: Spatregen /
PROCOL HARUM: Homburg / THE MOODY BLUES: The Land of Make Believe /
RENAISSANCE: Trip to the Fair.

As we are already in July, there are very few shows left before our summer break, so try not to miss them. We are preparing something special for next Sunday, but I will inform you about it in a few days.

A very big thanks to those who chose to listen to Prog & Roll once more. I hope you enjoyed it!

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About Me

I was born in Athens Greece, and still live there with my wife and my son..
I was DJ in many rock bars and medium size clubs for many years,
therefore music is a very important part of my life. Im a motorcycles
fan, and enjoy travel a lot with my motorcycle. Lately me & my wife we are hosting an internet radio show, and I'm having a Blog on the side.Well, that's all for now... :)